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Noony Norwood, a 30-year-old transwoman of color, was gunned down less than a mile from her home in Virginia. Monica Loera, a 40-year-old transwoman, was shot to death on her doorstep in Texas. And Sarah Kench, a 38-year-old transwoman, committed suicide in New York after struggling for years with depression.

These individuals, who lost their lives due to violence within the past 12 months, were among 27 names read during a Transgender Day of Remembrance candlelight vigil at A Place of Peace in Ventura. About 100 people attended Saturday.

“This is an emotional commemoration,” said Anne Blakeley, a transgender woman who is the founder and facilitator of Trans Alliance Ventura, and president and executive director of the Free 2 B Me Foundation.

“This is the kind of memorial service to honor transgender or gender non-conforming individuals that are no longer with us due to a violent act,” said Blakeley, of Oxnard. “Some have been murdered at the hands of another and some of these individuals have taken their own lives.”

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Melody Bird plays “Part of Your World” from “The Little Mermaid” during the Transgender Day of Remembrance at A Place of Peace in Ventura.(Photo: RICHARD QUINN/SPECIAL TO THE STAR)

Each of these cases involved some form of malicious intent, she said.

“Either the perpetrator has such rage over one of these individuals that they decided to take their life; or someone has harassed, bullied, showed intolerance or other forms of discrimination to the point that that person can no longer live with the pain,” Blakeley said.

The opening prayer was led by Manny Edgar-Beltran, a local Catholic priest who lives with his husband and daughter and worships at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura County.

“We gather as one — one family with many hearts,” Edgar-Beltran said. “They’re sad, they’re hurt. We’re confused, we’re grieving. We ask for your blessing.”

Julian Foley, a transgender male who came out in May of 2013, said “it’s a touching situation for us all, because we want to be here, but we don’t.”

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Actress Erika Ervin (right), also known as Amazon Eve, urges the crowd at the Transgender Day of Remembrance to stand up for themselves and others to end her speech.(Photo: RICHARD QUINN/SPECIAL TO THE STAR)

“We all … have been looking forward to coming together as a community for such a beautiful moment like this,” said Foley, of Newbury Park. “But at the same time, it’s hard because no one has the desire to mourn.”

This is a day that comes with a variety of feelings, Foley said.

“But I think the ones which stand out the most are our fears and our hopes,” Foley said. “A lot of us are scared, right this second, because of who we are. But a lot of us are hopeful, right this second, because of who we are.”

Many people view the trans community and gender non-conforming community as small, said Jude Goodman, of Thousand Oaks, who won the Diversity Gala’s youth community service award earlier this year.

“But the Williams Institute at UCLA recently said that there are about 1.4 million transgender adults in the United States alone — this number does not include trans youth,” Goodman said.

Quinn Solis, who does not identify with any gender and prefers not to use pronouns, said “oppression of one affects us all.”

“We need to stand up for and fight alongside marginalized and oppressed groups,” said Solis, of Ventura, who further reflected on the aftermath of the recent election.

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Em Silva (left) and Andrew Wolfe listen to speakers at the Transgender Day of Remembrance at A Place of Peace in Ventura.(Photo: RICHARD QUINN/SPECIAL TO THE STAR)

“These past few weeks have been really hard. I felt discouraged but I’m not giving up and neither should you,” Solis said. “Yes, a lot of us have a lot to lose, but love trumps hate. And we should come together as a community … to celebrate solidarity for people fighting injustices. They cannot bring us down if we are united.”

The Transgender Day of Remembrance also featured several live performances, including a dance by Kyle Patterson about a trans boy who comes out to his family. Michelle Rosenblum, a transgender woman, played Part of Your World from “The Little Mermaid” on guitar. And Shelby Figueroa sang an original song, Orlando, which she wrote for those affected by the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida that left 49 dead and 53 injured in June.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance received recognition from Michael McDonald, on behalf of State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, and Jason Barnes, on behalf of U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village.

Guest speaker for the evening was Erika Ervin, of Long Beach, a 6-foot-8-inch transgender woman who was named the tallest model in the world in 2011 by the Guinness Book of World Records. She is known for her role as Amazon Eve in “American Horror Story: Freak Show,” and will star in the upcoming film, “Chimera.”